Xenon Propulsion Pair of Telecom Satellites Roars Skyward from SpaceX’s Sunshine State Launch Base
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL — Nearly perfect weather greeted the blastoff of a nearly identical pair of xenon propulsion commercial telecom satellites carried to orbit today, Wednesday, June 15, by an upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Florida space coast.
The secondary and experimental goal of soft landing the first stage booster on an ocean going platform for later reuse was not successful – but also not unexpected due to the high energy of the rocket required to deliver the primary payload to orbit.
Liftoff of the 229 foot tall SpaceX Falcon 9 took place at the opening of Wednesday’s launch window at 10:29 a.m. EDT (2:29 UTC) under mostly sunny skies with scattered clouds, thrilling crowds along the beaches and around the coastal areas.
The goal of the launch was to deliver the Boeing-built EUTELSAT 117 West B and ABS-2A satellites to orbits for Latin American and Asian customers.
Liftoff occurred from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on time at 10:29 a.m. EDT (2:29 UTC).
The crackling roar of 1.5 million pounds of thrust generated by nine Merlin 1 D engines was so load that even spectators watching some 20 miles away in Titusville, Fl heard it load and clear – eager onlookers told me with a smile of delight !
Folks enthusiastically shared experiences upon returning from my press site viewing area located less than 2 miles away from the launch pad !
The Falcon 9 launch was carried live on a SpaceX webcast that started about 20 minutes before liftoff, at approximately 10:09 a.m. EDT at SpaceX.com/webcast
The webcast offered a detailed play by play of launch events and exquisite live views from the ground and extraordinary views of many key events of the launch in progress from the rocket itself from side mounted cameras looking up into space and back down to the ground.
Falcon 9 delivered the roughly 5000 pound commercial telecommunications satellites to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) for Eutelsat based in Paris and Asia Broadcast Satellite of Bermuda and Hong Kong.
They were deployed at about 30 minutes and 35 minutes after liftoff.
Eutelsat 117 West B will provide Latin America with video, data, government and mobile services for Paris-based Eutelsat.
ABS 2A will distribute direct-to-home television, mobile and maritime communications services across Russia, India, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean region for Asia Broadcast Satellite of Bermuda and Hong Kong.
Watch for Ken’s continuing on site reports direct from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the SpaceX launch pad.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
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